Best source for exotic pricing info?

Gerald used to post here on F-chat for a while last year and we put this question to him then. This was his response:

How we calculate the Asking Price Index has been explained many times in the FML. It is the most cussed and discussed aspect of the publication. Yet it is the one thing I have the least control over.

The figures in the Asking Price Index are calculated using PUBLISHED ASKING PRICES. They are NOT my numbers. They are the numbers the Ferrari selling community (i.e. you) put down, in print, for Ferraris they are trying to sell. In other words, while the FML Asking Price Index numbers are routinely criticized by the Ferrari public they are the Ferrari public's own numbers. These are not MY numbers, they are YOUR numbers!

I do not use just the ads in the Ferrari Market Letter for these figures. I use other published asking prices as well. Every two weeks all these asking prices are plugged into a table and then the asking price index is calculated. But it is not a simple arithmetic average. The formula first does a simple arithmetic average, and then using that figure eliminates any prices that are unrepresentative, specifically those that fall above or below our 50 percent rule. This eliminates the over-restored unrealistically priced garage queens as well as the rust-bucket restoration projects. There is also a time factor involved, in that the asking prices over the past three months (six issues) are also factored in on a declining scale.

There are flaws in the system. Because of space limitations we do not break out the models by year, which can be important on newer models although it is irrelevant on the older cars. Nor do variations come into consideration, i.e. a short nose steel body three carb open driveshaft 275 GTB is lumped in with a long nose alloy body six carb torque tube 275 GTB.

Let me explain the PURPOSE of the Asking Price Index which, by the way, has been published in the FML in one form or another as it was refined, for over 25 years. It was never intended to hold your hand and tell you what you should pay for a Ferrari. It was intended to show price trends. If asking prices are going up, then retail prices are almost certainly going up. If asking prices are going down, then retail prices are almost certainly going down. Many Ferrari buyers are concerned about such trends. Many of them still think Ferraris make good investments, or they at least don't want their car to devaluate too fast.

One way to use the FML Asking Price Index though is to simply consider this: If you are looking at a particular Ferrari and the seller's asking price is way out of line with the FML API then simply ask WHY? Is it lower because there is something wrong with the car? Or is it higher because it is a pristine, concours-winning 99.5 point car?

But if you want a value guide then buy a value guide. There are two excellent ones out there (although they get their fair share of criticism as well): The Black Book's Cars of Particular Interest Collectible Vehicle Value Guide published quarterly and the N.A.D.A. Classic, Collectible, and Special Interest Car Appraisal Guide.

I am aware that in general the FML API figures are "too high" if you insist on ignoring the fact they are ASKING PRICES and not RETAIL PRICES. But isn't it a given fact that "nobody pays asking price"? I thought that haggling on the purchase price and getting the seller to drop the price was part of the buying process!

Finally, I am often asked why I don't use selling prices. I have been making this offer for years and to date nobody has come up with an answer. Find me a source of verifiable, accurate, Ferrari selling prices, for all models, in sufficient quantity and with a broad geographic range to be statistically viable, and I will use them.